Discussions By Condition: I cannot get a diagnosis.

Please help - high BAC without drinking!

After two and a half days in bed with a sinus infection, I finally felt well enough to get up on the third day. I hadn't eaten much or had much to drink while I was down, so I had some leftover mashed potatos, a little turkey, and a 12 oz glass of apple juice for breakfast. Then I headed to the hospital to visit a friend. On the way there I was feeling dehydrated so I drank a 32 oz gatorade, a cup of coffee, and a 5-hour energy on the way to the hospital.

I visited with my friend for a couple of hours and headed home. I called my wife from the parking lot to let her know and left a voice message for a friend 15 mins later. 15 minutes after that, I lost consciousness and had an accident. I don't remember the accident or driving home from it. I don't remember anything for about 6 hours.

The police say I blew a breathalyzer of .21. They transferred me to the sherrif's dept. a couple of hours later where I started throwing up and my nose started bleeding uncontrollably. They took me to the hospital where my BAC registered .23. The hospital gave me iv fluids and a couple of hours later they released me to the sherrif's department.

I didn't have a drop to drink for more than 3 days. How can this happen? Please help!

That answer doesn't hold up as I can fully remember everything I did, including what I ate and drank from the time I woke up in the morning until 15 minutes before the accident. On top of that, I have witnesses to the fact that I did not drink and was not under the influence of anything during the two hours I was at the hospital visiting my friend. There were only 30 minutes between leaving the hospital and the accident, with no time for stops between the two locations.

It is possible that there would be a modest elevation due to ketones for the test used in the hospital...but I don't know much about the substrate used for the BAC breath test. However I don't think ketosis would explain a BAC two times the legal limit. In any case, you were at the hospital, and if you were ketotic, which can mimic intoxication, other blood tests would be abnormal. Not that any of this information will make any difference to a judge, btw.

As far as I know, nothing causes that high a blood alcohol content other than alcohol, and I used to be a state attorney investigator and thought I had heard it all - don't expect anyone to believe your story unless you have some kind of medical expert who can testify otherwise. Good luck.

The sherrif's department wasn't told I was in an accident and so the hospital didn't know either. They only ran BAC, nothing to test for ketones. When I asked if they would run a test to check for acetone a few days later, the blood sample had already been destroyed. From what I've read, both the breathalyzer and the standard blood alcohol test register anything in the methyl group (not just alcohol). Alcohol is assumed. Since I know alcohol wasn't involved, I have to figure out what did cause both the loss of consciousness and the BAC readings. And you're right, unless I can come up with a confirmable medical reason for the episode, a judge won't care what I think happened.

Five Hour Energy is a supplement drink that includes Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin B12, Sodium, Citicoline, Glucuronolactone, N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine, L-Phenylalanine, Taurine, Malic Acid, Caffeine, Amylase, Protease, Lipase, Cellulase, and Lactase in a base of water, flavors, preservatives, and sucralose. I have a lawyer but need help to figure out what the underlying medical cause of this could be.

Please post again if you find out any data to support that the 5 hour energy drink caused this.I have a high suspicion that it did, because a family member of mine drank 2 of those on a day when she had a long shift. She got sent home because her manager said that she detected the scent of alcohol on her breath. When she got home, she was very upset and did not have that scent and did not appear as though she had consumed any alcohol. As an experiment, I bought another of the drinks, she consumed it. After a few moments, her breath had a distinctive alcohol scent to it. Server hours later, she began vomiting uncontrollably, and we went to the emergency room where her blood test showed a BAC of .134. She also was dehydrated. She also had witnesses to not consuming any alcohol.We are trying to understand the chemistry of this, also.

You might have Gastro Esophogus Reflux disease..I'm currrently fighting an aggrevated dwi..but i had been drinking earlier in the day.I was pulled over because I forgot to turn my headlights on.i didnt have an accident or black out..i blew a .24 BAC, which with the amount I had drank was a lot higher then what I actually consumed. I also vomited at the police station which also creates a higher BAC. I would def. get an experienced attorney. I've heard that other diseases can also cause false high BAC readings like cancer for example. Gastro Esophogus Reflux is a legal defense. Good luck with your situation.

You may recall the woman who died in an accident, the police said she was drunk, the husband says she didn't drink.http://www.1010wins.com/pages/4952176.php?contentType=4&contentId=4471608 Your post reminded me of that story, which got me to thinking. I googled "body produced alcohol" and found something that might help! Check this out, maybe you can find a doctor who is familiar with this condition...or knows how to do research. Endogenous or Auto Brewery Syndrome as a result of intestinal disorders Candidiasis is a yeast infection which plagues the intestine when good bacteria are killed as a result of long term use of antibotics. Some candidiasis sufferers will feel, and appear to be, intoxicated. An unsual symptom of certain people with severe candidiasis is the presence of alcohol in the blood stream even when none has been consumed. First discovered in Japan, and called "drunk disease," this condition creates strains of candida albicans which turn acetaldehyde (which is the chemical created by sugar and yeast fermentation) into ethanol. This is a process well understood by distillers of homemade brew. These candidiasis patients whose yeast turns sugar into alcohol are chronically drunk. They have developed what is only half-jokingly called "auto-brewery syndrome". A medical test has been developed in which, after an overnight fast, the individual is given 100 grams of pure sugar. Blood samples taken both before the sugar loading, and an hour after, are mesured for alcohol. An increase of alcohol indicates yeast "auto-brewery" intoxication. Another connection between alcohol and candidiasis has been found in a study of 213 alcoholics at a recovery center in Minneapolis. Test and questionaire results indicated that candidiasis is a common complication of alcoholism due to the combination of high sugar content in alcohol and the inability of alcoholics to assimilate nutrients. Additionally, female alcoholics with candidiasis were significantly sicker than non alcoholic women with candidiasis. Many of the symptoms exhibited in alcoholism such as insomnia, depression, loss of libido, headaches, sinusitis/post-nasal drip, digestion and intestinal complaints, overlap with those in candida overgrowth. Obviously, drinking alcohol increases levels of sugar in the system. But other habits of alcoholics are also at fault. Many alcoholics tend to be smokers and so are at risk for respiratory infections which are treated with ... antibiotics !

As far as I know, nothing causes that high a blood alcohol content other than alcohol, and I used to be a state attorney investigator and thought I had heard it all - don't expect anyone to believe your story unless you have some kind of medical expert who can testify otherwise. Good luck.Are you saying that if you were drinking and taking lithium that it could not increase your bac? I have a friend who got a DUI and concerned he will do jail time. First offense.Can you help?

Are you saying that if you were drinking and taking lithium that it could not increase your bac? I have a friend who got a DUI and concerned he will do jail time. First offense. Can you help? Here's an idea: apply a scientific test to it. If this friend remembers what he ate and drank at that time, he could try getting one of those home alcohol test kits, then repeat the conditions adn see if his body did produce its own alcohol. the science is really out on the issue. I've searched and found conflicting opinions. Here is a PRO opinion from a pediatric health article:http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119918880/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0 Here is an opinion against http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10976182 Here is another pediatric article linking sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) to the intestinal flora that was found to be dominated byCandida albicans. http://www.springerlink.com/content/jw30113168055296/ It's unlikely, but you never know.

I just wanted to tell you that I believe your story. My husband is experiencing a similar problem. I read your thread hoping you found out what was wrong. My husband has not consumed any alcoholic beverage in more than a year. But because his body produces ethanol, he experiences all the symptoms of someone that deliberately consumes too much alcohol. Did you ever find out what was causing this problem?

I too am very much interested in this problem. My husband has had a few episoded where he appears intoxicated, motor skills impaired and alcohol breath. On more than two of these occasions has has been with people, including myself and has not had any alcohol for at least several hours to many days prior to these "episodes". He also was arrested for DUI after a BAC of .20. Two days later he again suffered an episode and again had been in the company of at least 5 people from early morning until 2 in the afternoon when we took him to the hospital. He was given a blood test which again registred a BAC of .20. Like many of you, no one believes he was not drinking - but that is in fact the case. if anyone comes up with more information, please post. he has resolved the DUI but we are concerned about the underlying cause since he has again suffered an episode early Saturday morning which worsened throughout the day. Again, I and two other people were in his company the entire time. Thank you.

I too am very much interested in this problem. My husband has had a few episoded where he appears intoxicated, motor skills impaired and alcohol breath. On more than two of these occasions has has been with people, including myself and has not had any alcohol for at least several hours to many days prior to these "episodes". He also was arrested for DUI after a BAC of .20. Two days later he again suffered an episode and again had been in the company of at least 5 people from early morning until 2 in the afternoon when we took him to the hospital. He was given a blood test which again registred a BAC of .20. Like many of you, no one believes he was not drinking - but that is in fact the case. if anyone comes up with more information, please post. he has resolved the DUI but we are concerned about the underlying cause since he has again suffered an episode early Saturday morning which worsened throughout the day. Again, I and two other people were in his company the entire time. Thank you. Amazing. I would recommend contacting some medical universities to see if anyone would be interested in sdudying his physiology to see if this is a case of BAC

The same thing happened to me, I'm on a ketonic diet and I am producing HIgh ketones, ketones produce "isoprophyl alcohol" in your system, cause a false high BAC. The very similar alcohol we drink....they would have to test for ketones..research Ketogenic Diet.When you fast, your body produces ketones, you get knocked out of ketosis when you ingest carbs, the ketones rise and use the carbs for energy.

Had a friend who went to the hospital with abdominal pains. They asked how much he had to drink and he advised he hadn't drank since the day before, of couse they didn't believe him until they found his pancreas was in distress and not allowing the liver to process the alcohol.